Woman charged with threatening to slash St. Louis judge’s throat

ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Sheriff’s deputies detained a woman armed with a box cutter with a six-inch blade, in the Civil Courts building in downtown St. Louis.

Valerie Mitchell, 57, was charged with tampering with a judicial officer and resisting or interfering with arrest.

According to charging documents, between October 26 and November 2, Mitchell made threats to harm 22nd Judicial Circuit Court Judge Jason Sengheiser "by knocking him out of his wheelchair.”

Captain Donald Robinson said Mitchell's threats went further than that. He said she’d called the courthouse and court of appeals several times threatening Judge Sengheiser, and that she even wrote threats on Facebook.

"She said she was going to come down here, she was going to jump on him, she was going to cut his throat, and she was just waiting for him," Robinson said.

When she showed up to the courts building on Thursday morning, deputies were ready for her.

"The deputies at the front desk recognized her, took her into custody," Robinson said.

When St. Louis police officers arrived to arrest Mitchell, she allegedly assaulted an officer.

According to the charging documents, Mitchell struck the responding officer in the face with her fist and "pushed away from officers in an attempt to evade detention.”

It also states that Mitchell wanted to harm Judge Jason Sengheiser in retaliation for an order entered against her.

Court documents show on October 26, Judge Sengheiser ruled against Mitchell in a lawsuit. Scott Credit Union was suing Mitchell for not making her car payments. Sengheiser ordered Mitchell to pay $17,808.04 and return the 2014 Nissan Sentra.